Book support with independent cover holder



May 20, 1958 2,835,072

BOOK SUPPORT WITH INDEPENDENT COVER HOLDER w. ,GRAMACY Filed 'A aril so,1957 3 Z m M m m BUOK SUPPORT WITH INDEPENDENT COVER HOLDER Thisinvention relates to a book support for supporting and holding a bookwith the pages of the book in open spaced-apart flatwise condition. y

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a book supportthat is especially designed for use in holding a book inopen conditionwhen reading in bed, without the necessity of use of the hands by thereader.

Another object of the invention is to provide a book support that holdsthe page of the book in open position, but permits ready turning of apage, when so desired.

A further object of the invention is to. provide a book support that isportable, easilymanipulated, and that is readily supported in ahorizontal or upright inclined extended position.

It is also proposed to provide a book support that is simple and sturdyin construction and that can be manufactured and sold at a reasonablecost.

For further comprehension of the invention and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a book support embodying my invention, thebook support being shown lying fiat in collapsed condition on itssupporting surface and supporting a book, a page of the book being shownpartly turned;

Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof looking toward the top portion of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the book support with a bookthereon, the support being here shown in extended position, for mountingon a desk or other support;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to Fig. 3 but withthe book removed, and showing a clampfinger in open or inoperativeposition;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the plane of the line 6-6of Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the drawing, in Fig. l a book support embodyingthe invention is designated generally at 11). This book supportcomprises a rectangular-shaped plate 11 constituting the body of thesupport. The plate may be made of stifi cardboard or similar materialhaving a smooth surface. A narrow metal plate 12 extends along onelongitudinal side edge of the body, and is fastened thereto by rivets13.

A pair of spaced metal clamping units, each indicated generally at 14,are disposed perpendicularly to the plate 12 and rigidly securedthereto. Each clamping unit comprises a wide metal finger 15 secured atone end to the inner edge of the plate 12 by rivets 16 or other suitablemeans and provided with an upturned bent end 17. A

hinge device indicated generally at 18 is disposed outwardly of thefastened end of the finger 15, in line there- 1 atent O with and closelyspaced therefrom. This hinge device consists of two hinged leaves 19 and20 formed of spring metal and a pin 21 connecting the leaves. The leavesare narrower in dimension than the finger 15. Leaf 19 is secured at oneend to the plate 12 by rivets 22, and is formed at its other end withoutstruck spaced curled knuckles 23 sleeved around the hinge pin 21.Between the knuckles 23, the leaf is formed with an outstruck lug 24extending at right angles to' the plane of the body of the leaf andbeing formed with a smooth curved end edge. The lug extends slightlyoutwardly of the outermost portion of the knuckles 23.

Hinge leaf 20 has one end formed with outstruck curled knuckles 26sleeved around the pin 21. The body of the leaf is slitted to form anelongated lug 27 bent slightly outwardly of the plane of the body of theleaf and having its outer free end engaging and slidable over the curvedouter end edge of the lug 24 of leaf 19. This construction andarrangement of leaves and lugs cause the lugs 27 to urge the leaves 20into closed relation with the leaves 19.

An angular substantially inverted V-shaped finger 28 of spring metal,narrower than the finger 15, is secured to the unhinged end of the leaf20 by means of rivets 29, or other suitable means, extending through theleaf end and through a flange or extension 30 formed on the end of theshort side 31 of the finger 28. The inner surfaces of the longitudinalsides 32 of the fingers are smooth and the free ends thereof areslightly bent outwardly.

A plate 33 constituting a brace is secured to the end of the plate 11,opposite the end mounting the plate 12, preferably by means of a pianohinge 34. One leaf 35 of the hinge is fastened to the plate 11 by rivets36 or the like, and the other leaf 37 is fastened to the adjacent end ofthe plate 33 by rivets 38 or the like. A small plate 39 is fastened tothe plate 33 at the center of its hinged end, as by rivets. This plate39 extends beyond the end edge of the bracing plate 33 and over theknuckles 49 of the piano hinge, the extending edge of the plate 39engaging the leaf 35 and thereby limiting outward extensive movement ofplate 33, and holding the plates 11 and 33 in open extended condition asshown in Fig. 3.

In use, the book support may be placed flatwise in collapsed conditionon the lap of the reader, or the bracing plate 33 may be opened andextended and the book support placed on the top of a desk or table. Whenin this latter extended position, the rest plate 11 is disposed in anupstanding manner and inclines rearwardly from its.

bottom to its top so as to support the book in an up standing rearwardlyinclined position, so that the book may be conveniently read.

In order to mount the book on the book support, the clamping fingers 28,28 are swung outwardly to open position as shown in Fig. 4 and a book 41opened flatwise at the desired place is placed on the rest plate 11. Theopen book covers are slid under the fingers 15, 15 until the leading endedges of the covers abut against and seat upon the top edge of plate 12,with the heel portion 42 disposed between said fingers as shown in Fig.2. The clamping fingers 28, 28 are then swung to closed clampingposition over the leaves 43 of the book. When the book is in thissupported position, the outwardly turned end edges 17, 17 of the fingers15, 15 tend to press outwardly against the leaves and the spring loadedfingers 28, 28 due to their shape and to the spring lugs 27, 27 tend topress inwardly against the leaves so that the book is securely held inposition. The outwardly curved end edges of the long sides 32 of thefingers28, 2S and the spring action of said fingers permit ready turningof a page by simply pushing upwardly and laterally by the finger of theuser against the page desired to be turned whereby it readily movesupwardly and laterally as shown in Fig. 1, such movement beingfacilitated by the smooth inner surfaces of the long sides 32, 32 of thefingers.

Furthermore, one or both of the fingers 28 may be swung away from theleaves any desired distance and due to the frictional engagement of thespring lugs 27 on the outstruck lugs 24, said finger or fingers will beheld in such moved position, permitting ready turning over of a page.The swinging of the finger or fingers and the turning over of the pageor pages may be done with one hand so that the construction isbeneficial to a person in bed or to an invalid.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the hereunto appended claims.

I claim:

1. A book support comprising a rectangular-shaped, flat, solid, plateconstituting a book rest, a narrow plate fixed on the front surface ofthe rest plate, along the bottom edge thereof, a pair of clamping unitsspaced along and disposed perpendicularly to the bottom long edge of therest plate, on the front surface thereof, each unit consisting of anelongated fiat finger fixed at one end to the narrow bottom plate andextending inwardly thereof closely spaced from the rest plate to receivethe covers of an open supported book thereunder, a second fingerhingedly secured at one end to the outer end of the elongated fiatfinger, said second finger being substantially inverted V-shaped withthe free end thereof springpressed inwardly toward the other elongatedfiat finger and being adapted to press upon the leaves of an opensupported book, and a bracing plate hingedly mounted on the rear surfaceof the rest plate along the opposite longitudinal edge thereof forsupporting the book support in an inclined position, said bottom narrowplate having a straight upper edge serving as an abutment for the bottomedges of the covers of an open supported book to limit inward movementof the book.

2. A book support comprising a flat, solid, rectangular shaped plateconstituting abook rest, said plate having parallel top and bottomlongitudinal edges, a pair of clamping units secured along and disposedperpendicularly to the bottom longitudinal edge on the front surface ofthe rest plate, each unit consisting of a pair of aligned fingers ofvarying lengths and widths, the narrow and shorter finger of each pairbeing substantially inverted V-shaped, the wide finger of each pairbeing elongated and flat and fixed at one end to the rest plate, saidelongated wide fingers being closely spaced from the rest plate toreceive thereunder the covers of an open supported book, the narrowfinger of each pair being hingedly connected at one end to the fixed endof the respective wide finger, the hinge connection including a hingeleaf secured at one end to the fixed end of the wide finger, the otherend of the hinge leaf having spaced knuckles and an outstanding lugtherebetween, a hinge leaf secured at one end thereof to one end of thecompanion narrow finger, the other end of the latter hinge leaf havingspaced knuckles aligned with the knuckles on the first-named hinge leaf,a hinge pin extending through the knuckles of each pair of leaves, saidlast-named hinge leaf having an elongated spring lug offset from theplane of the hinge leaf and frictionally pressing against and slidableover the free end of the lug of the first-named hinge leaf for urgingthe narrow finger toward the associated wider finger, said elongatedspring lugs being adapted to frictional en- References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 298,726 Burt May 20, 1884 774,814Adams Nov. 15, 1904 2,346,703 Ruen Apr. 18, 1944 2,777,246 Diggs et al.Jan. 15, 1957

